DISCLAIMER: This review originally was made way before the anime finished. I have finished yet nothing changed in my experience so I'd just keep it that way.

Blue Lock is an anime series based on a serial manga popularized in 2018 by Muneyuki Kaneshiro about the way how Japanese society norms don't really understand the essence of football-- the anime itself was said it explicitly despite not many people have understood this message.

In fact, the author had claimed that the collective norms in Japan have deteriorated football from its purest form, especially when it comes to the idea that football players have a freedom for expressing themselves in an artistic sense to become the best version of themselves on the pitch-- in which sense that they are not allowed to be selfish or have an ego when it comes to playing football, which means that they have to work together collectively as a team and are not depending on the way they perform individually.

Alright next, it's time to get into the details since this anime has become the trend-setter among the ongoing in-season series that are on-air currently.

So, what is the story about?

There was a whiny Yoichi Isagi, who regretted that he didn't score a goal by or for himself, and instead, passing it to his teammate who eventually failed to score a goal during the penultimate time of the match for the team in the final thus lost the cup. Not to mention that he actually had cried, given the opportunity he did have to change his fate was wasted as a striker and more importantly, a footballer whose dream is to win a World Cup and become like Noel Noa.

How ironic -- I honestly didn't know who the hell he was, or which football player that was inspired from despite the author said it was Antoine Griezmann (which is hilarious since there was no way he would have won a Ballon D'or and beaten Messi or Ronaldo) but for the sake of aligning this timeline into the real world, let's just say it's Karim Benzema if he joined the 2018 World Cup-- a striker prodigy who, not only took their team to lift the World Cup but also "stole" the Balloon D'Or from the caliber of players such as Messi and Ronaldo, and became the role model of every striker in the world.

Alright, enough with Yoichi Isagi, time to move on from his shamble and go to the next section, as you see the current corrupt state of Japan Football Association, whereas they don't see any importance in winning the World Cup. But it changed when Ego Jinpachi, someone whose identity was unknown, and Teieri Anri (this honestly sounds like the word play of Thierry Henry) who joined to reform the Japanese Football to begin its revolution by simply tossing 300 young strikers, that were being locked or you could just say quarantined and therefore isolated such as that COVID pandemic patients, into a base camp called "Blue Lock".

And then from here, the story begins...

but in reality, it is not the end of this review-- this is just a synopsis I made.

First of all, to begin the evaluation of this anime, time to pay attention on several things:

The premise about this show is interesting to say the least-- it talks about not just football, but sports in general, whereas there are sports that distinguished by the sense of teamwork, with clear orders and duties to compete against the others, while then, there also are some that require players to become a part of individuality if they want to achieve their own success.

For example, football, as it is distinguished by the dynamic style of play with the difference between tactics and strategy on the pitch become vague thus these players have their own initiative with their idea of playing football on the pitch to become the best version of themselves due to their high ego, is sports for the individuals.

However, mostly, it is apparent that the background of this show is revolved around psychology, despite it is not being mentioned explicitly or, to be precise, related to Freudian Ego unironically-speaking. But then, these players are, at their best, propelled by their own action and mindset when it comes to playing football, from dribbling, passing, shooting, attacking or defending to technique, awareness, determination, and also mentality too.

The animation is really good, and it is quite satisfying to see such quality when it comes to the detailed layers of each motion despite it still is carried by CG (computer graphic) but the art style simply is lacking impression, especially when it comes to visualization of play on the pitch, including the way "monsters" are being portrayed, since it could have been more vivid, surreal, and impressionistic but it made no distinct difference.

The characters are not really much of problems compared to the voice actors, in which there is a sort of problems about the way sentences are pronounced to sound a little more engaging,

Yoichi Isagi as a main character, for example, displays a significant character development throughout the episodes, much alike from zero to hero development, as expected as the way how it should be according to the source material. And since there are 24 episodes, this show becomes better in developing these players, including Bachira with his instinctual drive of sensing a monster, Kunigami with his sense of justice and a will to become a superhero in playing football or Chigiri who so far got a fair-share of his screen time as well.

The pacing is fine, not to say it is really good but at least it does not rush the development of both plot and characters to an extent they ruin or sacrifice one of these aspects to integrate the show for the sake of its genre, and it is fair to think that the tempo that is managed on this show is actually quite satisfying if I were to refer to the source material.

And as for the audio and visual, these are some of the best aspects that this show currently have, and it might be conceivable that these staffs of studio who have had worked on this show made enough research and effort of the way how football is being played, and not to mention that there were some technical aspects that being mentioned during several episodes to educate the audiences who just watched "football".

And therefore, unlike Japan who had lost against Belgium in World Cup 2018, Blue Lock has everything that it takes to become one of the best anime series that portrays football, or rather, the best sports anime that have ever made due to its sources material.

However, despite of its potential, it's worth mentioning that this unpolished gem of the series will have to level-up their game next season if they don't want to be unbeknownst by their audiences simply due to cliché or stereotype that are used to be attach this series into both categories of shōnen and sports genres whereas it tends to be oriented by teamwork or the so-called "power of friendship" nonsense as such.

But honestly, it wouldn't be so surprising if they eventually decided to commit Haik- I mean, to destroy these stereotypes due to the premise they have brought into play as the one to watch next season.

So, at last but not least, why do you have to watch Blue Lock?

If you have ever been shat on by a pigeon due to luck struck upon you, the inevitability of watching this show is very likely due to its quality and the appreciation of the way how football becomes as it is nowadays. In other word, you would have to reach the shit to have your luck in watching this revolutionary and, sometimes, theatrical show about sports that are played by the best of XI in the squad.

Hence then, as the aftermath, there is no "must" being applied here, or whether you want to watch this show at all. But if you are looking for a show that provides entertainment to watch during the spare time, this is the best that you can have.

However, as a football fan, this show is really recommended for these kind of people who have watched the beauty aspect of football since not only it is a reminder for them about the quality of football to play, but the fact that these characters are these professional footballers who eventually will be embracing themselves as the role models of this show. Alright, that's all and thank you for reading this review.